Thou Didst Stumble to a Throne
November 17, 2015
“Jesus of the Scars” by Edward Shillito
If we have never sought, we seek Thee now;
Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;
We must have sight of thorn-pricks on Thy brow,
We must have Thee, O Jesus of the Scars.
The heavens frighten us; they are too calm;
In all the universe we have no place.
Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?
Lord Jesus, by Thy Scars, we claim Thy grace.
If, when the doors are shut, Thou drawest near,
Only reveal those hands, that side of Thine;
We know to-day what wounds are, have no fear,
Show us Thy Scars, we know the countersign.
The other gods were strong; but Thou wast weak;
They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;
But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak,
And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.
Luggaged 
November 17, 2015 at 7:30 PM
Parts of that prayer stand out and parts seem a little strange to me. But, it is a nice prayer as prayers go.
November 17, 2015 at 7:37 PM
Yes, the fun of poetry. I love the idea of God stumbling to a throne. He came through a peasant woman, born in a manger where only lowly shepherds came. It is only his wounds that give us hope in this broken world.
November 17, 2015 at 7:58 PM
Ah! Only, I am not certain I would use the word “stumbling to a throne”. To each is own though. Certainly the right of the author.
To me, God placed Jesus in that exact situation to teach us many things and lessons….poverty and money, power and status, etc.
November 17, 2015 at 8:09 PM
I understand what you are saying. I think the author probably used the word stumble because Simon of Cyrene had to carry Jesus’ cross. Perhaps this was true because Jesus couldn’t bear the weight of the cross and fell. Maybe he was thinking of death as a metaphorical stumble. After his death Jesus rose and ascended to the right hand of the Father (the throne). But you are dead right, the author has the right to use whatever word he wanted. Again, the fun of poetry.